Man Releases Daughter, Her Mom After Standoff

The Nation - In Brief

April 12, 2005

LOPATCONG, N.J. -- A man surrendered to police several hours after he abducted his 4-month-old daughter and her mother at gunpoint Monday, then held them in a car surrounded by police. He held the hostages about three hours before releasing them unharmed, authorities said. Negotiations had extended into the evening with the man, Almutah Saunders. The standoff began just outside Newark in Irvington, when Saunders shot and wounded the baby's grandfather in the leg, then seized the child and her mother, Erika Turner, and led police on a chase across the state, authorities said.